When you think of romance singers you might go to Marvin, Frank, Barry (White), Billie, Adele, and Celine. But for me, I also think of DMX. When Lizzy and I first started dating, a lot of our late-night correspondence was going back and forth by text. We shared a lot of jokes and frequently referenced song lyrics within our banter. I loved how we could volley lyrical ping-pong with all kinds of ’90s / 2000s hip-hop and r&b.
She knew every word, rapping them in her roughest voice, with full-blown hand animations and the passion that only X, and evidently she could bring.
The playfulness between Lizzy and I would get more interactive when we would be in the car together. Hundreds of hours of karaoke would strengthen our bond. I remember asking her if she liked DMX only to be met with an incredulous response….”Like DMX, DMX is my Mutha F*&k!n@ Dog (I might be paraphrasing, but that is pretty damn close). I relayed to her my story of being in college when I really started following him and how 1998 was truly the year of DMX. While giving my historical dissertation on the subject, I was cueing up what was possibly the most vile first verse of a song in rap history. I pressed play. What I hadn’t realized while I was going on and on, was Lizzy’s transformation as if DMX’s spirit had entered her body. The speakers were rattling with his chants and grunts – and Lizzy was right there with him. And when the lyrics hit she was with him LINE for LINE. Knew every word, rapping them in her roughest voice, with full-blown hand animations and the passion that only X, and evidently she could bring. I can’t stress enough how funny and incredible that moment in time was. And I knew right there she was THE one.
Six years later, after dozens of concerts and thousands of hours of listening to music together, we continue to bond over it. Every page of our love story has a matching song to go with it, and there is no doubt that DMX was right there in the first chapter.
I got blood on my hands and there’s no remorse
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And got blood on my d*** ’cause I f***** a corpse
I’m a nasty n****, when you pass me, n****, look me in my eyes
Tell me to my f****** face that you ready to die